All Because of You
by PureKunai
Summary: Naruto dies, leaving Sasuke and Sakura to make it without him. Who is this darkly dressed stranger, and how can he help those Naruto left behind overcome their problems? NaruSaku. T to be safe.


All Because of You

Chapter 1: Shattered

"I don't know how we woke up one morning, and thought we knew exactly what we were supposed to do"

---Some scars never heal. When someone dies, people react in stages. First comes denial to the absence of the loved one, and then anger at the world, for what it has done. Lastly a deep, heart-rending angst and feeling of desolation that sometimes never leaves---

"_GO!" he shouted, "Get the hell out of here, both of you!" He shouted. "I can't control him."_

"_I can." The other boy said._

"_No you can't, not this time, Sasuke. The seal is broken."_

"_We don't care!" She said. "We'd rather die with you." Sasuke nodded._

"_Please, Sakura, Sasuke, you don't understand, without you, I'll be back in that hell again... At least this way I won't die without anyone, I'll know, you're both still alive."_

"_We're not leaving. If we die, we die together." Sakura shouted, speaking for herself and the dark-haired boy next to her._

"_I'm sorry, I can't let that happen. Goodbye...my friends." _

"_I won't forgive you," Sasuke replied emotionlessly._

"_NO!" Sakura screamed, although she knew it was useless, Naruto had made up his mind, and he would never go back on his word. "Damn you, Naruto..." She said, tears already running down her face_

_The last thing they saw was a blonde-haired boy, eyes becoming feral and fangs growing, whispering something indecipherable. _

_And then, blackness._

Sakura jumped up, covered in cold sweat and shaking. _Dammit, that was the third time this week._ She got out of bed; there was no point in trying to sleep. She hadn't slept properly since… then. She walked over to her drawer pulling out a picture of three kids and a silver-haired man. A sullen raven-haired boy with silent black eyes, a pink-haired young girl with emerald green eyes, and a smiling spiky blond-haired boy with cerulean blue eyes that seemed to light up the world around him. Sakura stared out the window, remembering days long past. She looked up at the stars, still seeing his face right in front of her, smiling, laughing, and then that one day, silent, dead. His eyes blank, his face bloody, a half-smile left curling his lips. It was two years since then tomorrow, and still every time she thought of him, grief stabbed her heart. A single tear dropped from her eyes, ran down her face, and fell on to the face of the smiling blonde boy.

Sasuke stared at the ground in front of him, covered in knotted roots and a carpet of moss. He walked on aimlessly, without direction or purpose, willing himself not to think. He did not want to be reminded of his old rival, his friend, and his brother. He did not want to cry, nor to scream, nor fall to the ground, beaten and defeated. He did not want to feel at all. He did not want to do anything but walk, on and on, forever. It was his only escape, the one way he could get away from the wreckage his life had become since that day. Sasuke stared at three towering trees in front of him, their tops obscured by the inky darkness.

In front of him he saw three children, two boys and a girl, molding chakra with their feet and running straight at the tree, and right up them, in the case of two of them. The third got about four feet up the tree, scratched the trunk with a kunai, Then he fell, hitting his head hard on the patch of dirt below him. He jumped up, grimaced in pain, and smiled when he saw the mark he had made on the tree. He had gotten two more inches up the tree!

Sasuke sighed, those days were long past. _I'm sorry Naruto; I wasn't there for you._

Sakura was angry with him, for dying without her. Sasuke would never stop hating him for leaving his own brother behind. Their lives were trapped in stasis. Days came and went, but nothing really happened. Every ounce of their being was stuck in that one day, that one moment, when they realized their best friend, their sibling, was dead. Life seemed to hold no meaning for them anymore, and they asked themselves "What's the point?" every time they woke up.

Then they answered, "Its what he would've wanted."

Naruto had inspired everyone who met him. He had touched the hearts of the heartless and turned the darkness into light. His friendly personality, his courage and determination in battle, his general joviality, and, yes, even his lovable idiocy had left its mark on their lives. Sakura had acknowledged her own abilities because of him. Sasuke had been brought back to the light by him. Neji finally made peace with the main branch of the Hyuuga Clan due to his understanding. Hinata had grown a sense of self-esteem and respect through his friendliness towards her. Shikamaru had become a persevering ninja, because of his determination. Chouji had befriended him, and Ten Ten had seen real strength in him. Shino had made friends with many, because of his openness. Gaara had been rescued from the hell he was stuck in by the one boy who had a chance to understand him. Tsunade had seen a person she could finally love without having him die. Jiraiya, or Ero-Sennin as he insisted to be called these days, had found a son. Kakashi had seen a second chance with Obito in him. And every single one of them had seen what it means to be a true ninja.

Then… he had died.

---Their lives had been shattered that day, and they were still picking up the pieces---

-------

The next morning Sasuke and Sakura opened their eyes, one resting against a tree-trunk, and one with her head lying on an old photograph. Both seemed rather disappointed they had woken up, and closed their eyes once again. However, closed eyes would welcome spare thoughts; ones that would only cause harm and destroy the fragile shields they had both erected to spare their sanity from such memories.

Sakura was the first to rise, sighing, getting out of bed, showering, dressing, and walking out the door. She headed towards a certain building, which was now just opening and welcoming early customers. She took a glance up at the shops name, renamed the "Naruto Ramen Shop" two years ago. Since then, this shop had received great business from the ninja population.

The village bell tolled ten times, and Sakura started, the meeting was beginning! She ran over to the counter, seeing seven other young ninja from her Genin year, and a fifty-something year old blonde who looked like she was twenty-five. Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ten Ten, Lee, Shino, and her. Everyone was there, except for the two other members of Team 7, one was dead and the other...Sasuke had skipped missions and meetings and had been slacking off for two years now, and everyone knew why. Suddenly, Sasuke materialized next to her, seemingly out of nowhere. His eyes had the same vacant look she had seen in his eyes for three years, the one she saw in her own every time she thought of Naruto. Part of them had died that day, and it was never coming back.

Suddenly, the old blonde woman rose, and began to speak to those surrounding her.

"I've brought you all here today because as I am sure many of you are aware of, today is the second anniversary of… his…death." She steeled herself, and said "Two years ago, Naruto Uzumaki," several people stiffened at the mention of his name, "the boy we all knew and loved, killed himself to prevent the Kyuubi from breaking out of his body."

Tsunade continued:

"Yesterday we received information that several of the Akatsuki, the organization responsible for breaking the seal holding in the Kyuubi, survived the massive explosive blast that resulted from the suicidal kinjutsu he used.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but that it not possible" said Sakura "the blast two years ago wiped out nearly half the forest surrounding their base, obliterating every tree, plant, and animal in the area, and single-handedly creating the Valley of the Fox. Only his tremendous chakra kept his (she wouldn't, no she couldn't say the name) body from being annihilated. Sasuke and I witnessed the aftermath of the explosion; the region was completely devastated for miles.

Sasuke nodded, agreeing, silent and brooding as ever.

"Several of the Akatsuki were rumored to have become Jinchuuriki by then, don't you think they too could have protected themselves with the immense chakra stores of the Biju?" Replied Tsunade.

Sakura fell silent, her old sensei was right.

"I am assigning all of you on a mission to go to the Village Hidden in the Mist. Be careful, the Akatsuki are a highly dangerous organization, every member is an S-Ranked criminal. They are a village just beginning to restore their ninja population, and so have asked their allies, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, to guard all entrances to the city. The city is a center of trade, and as it has a relatively new government, would be a strategic point to seize if the Akatsuki were attempting to conquer the Water Country." Tsunade paused. "Will all of you be willing to go on such a mission?"

Everyone sitting at the restaurant immediately accepted, readily agreeing to anything that would give them a chance to get revenge on those who had taken away their brave comrade. Even Sasuke, almost always impassive, seemed eager to kill anyone who had done such a thing to his friend.

Tsunade, as if reading their thoughts, said "Lastly, a ninja never shows his emotions, no matter what the situation is, do not lose control of yourselves; your lives could depend on it."

-------

A young man in a jet-black hunter Nin mask and a dark cloak lay on the hard ground at the outskirts of Konoha, spiky blonde hair and feral red eyes hidden. The mask was almost completely black, other than two red eye slits, the only things visible in the darkness. He looked like a monster from out of a child's nightmare; indeed, the life of the boy he had escaped from had been one.

He could smell them from here, those two. The pink-haired girl was just finishing packing for some kind of mission, and held a small pack in her hand. He could smell the lavender scent that clung to her, and inhaled deeply, savoring the lovely scent.

**Soon, it will be mixed with blood! **He said excitedly.

"_You fucking fox, if you touch her, I swear you'll pay for it."_ Screamed the boy inside of him.

The demon-boy cackled maliciously. **What are you going to do about it boy? I am in control. And you will never escape. I know as well as you do those bars are unbreakable. Anyways, I am a part of you, just as you are a part of me. You cannot hurt me.**

The blue-eyed boy began at once beating at the cage, hitting the rusted iron bars with all he had, but it was of no use. Although they looked ancient and moldy, they were completely indestructible. They had been created by the Fourth's death, and they would remain there forever. He screamed, _"KYUUBI, I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS!!"_

Then he sat down on the wet floor of the cell and put his hands in his head. All he wanted to do was scream, but the fox was right. He had no way of escaping, and certainly no way of killing the immortal nine-tailed demon.

The demon found this immensely amusing and gave a roaring laugh, baring sharp fangs while he cackled madly. He was quite a sight, covered in acidic red bubbles. Only his blood-red eyes were uncovered, betraying a malicious killer intent that paralyzed his victims. Speaking of his victims:

The raven-haired boy was trying to sleep, but having horrible dreams. Tossing and turning, he cried out his sleep. He threw his hands up in the air, as if to cover is face from imaginary blows.

**What better way to repay you, Naruto, for imprisoning me for all those years, than to kill those dearest to you?**

The boy now imprisoned inside his own body had died for those two, his dearest friends, and never regretted it. But he would never be able talk to them, never see them again. As a result of bringing him back to life after such a violent death, he and the Kyuubi had switched places in his body. He would've rather been dead.

Since then, wherever he went, the demon had slaughtered everyone. He had no control over the Kyuubi anymore; it killed everyone and destroyed everything around it. It was the Kyuubi, killing was its nature, death and murder were synonymous to its name, and it was part of him forever. Naruto screamed in frustration and grief. Soon, the Kyuubi was going to take the lives of the two people he had died protecting.

He could see his two best friends as clearly as if they were right in front of him. Sasuke, with his empty black pools, that had begun to grow a spark in them since he had returned to Konoha. His dark black hair pointing up in spikes, bangs hanging down over the sides of his face. Sasuke had exchanged the loose-fitted clothes and the rope that kept them on for the black T-shirt and shorts he had worn before he left the Fire Country, albeit a much larger size. And once again he wore a leaf forehead protector, proudly displaying the scratch on it given by his best friend.

Sakura, pink hair as attention-attracting as ever. Her red uniform had not changed much since Naruto had arrived back from his two and a half year journey. Her eyes, bright green emeralds. They shined every time she saw Sasuke, and no less brightly to Naruto. Her smile had lost the quiet sadness it had when Sasuke was with Orichimaru. And she now looked so much more happy after Naruto had brought Sasuke back.

He had loved them, and still did.

The young man closed his eyes with a sigh; if the Kyuubi succeeded, it would kill the last part of him left that was still human. One thing was for sure, he had to find a way out of this prison before the Kyuubi murdered the two he valued most.

Chapter End

My first fanfic, yay. Will be making up some techniques soon so I'm going to need peoples' help when I mess up the names. Oh yeah, if anyone can guess what song + band the quote at the top (not the one with the ---'s) is from… kudos to you. I love music, so if anyone wants to recommend songs, then great. I like Alt. Rock, Alt., Rock, Pretty Rock, (yes, I did just say pretty rock, means Soft Rock if your not familiar) some Emo music, and other stuff. Not so much Screamo (you know, the ones with some guy screaming and really hardcore stuff like that) or Rap, but there are some exceptions, like Glassjaw and random other people. So any music recommendations will be valued.

Well anyway, hope you liked. R & R. Actually, you probably already read it…


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